


i know you're hurting, baby (whenever you look at me with those sad eyes)

by natkieran



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, Fluff and Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-15 20:20:04
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29564595
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/natkieran/pseuds/natkieran
Summary: Lena is waiting for her at the balcony when she lands with a delicate thud, looking so soft and so comfortable in a large-sized grey sweater. She is leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed over her chest, a thoughtful expression on her face. “Hi,” she greets in a low voice, green eyes looking a bit tired as meeting blue ones. “Game night got canceled?”“No, not exactly,” Kara answers, pushing her hands inside her pockets, unable to help herself from watching her friend carefully. It seems like she has just gotten home from work, freshly out of a shower, her dark long hair still a bit wet. “But it’s bad luck to have an odd number for game night.”Opening a small smile, Lena tightens her arms around her chest, seeming a bit cold in the open air. Her slight discomfort makes the blonde watch her more carefully, noticing the grey sweater going at her midthighs, her bare legs shining in the moonlight. It’s a tiny bit distracting, especially because Kara isn’t sure if she is wearing anything underneath.But it’s not her clothes that make Kara’s heart twist in her chest. It’s the fact that her guard is up like never before. Like Lena is trying to hide something from her.
Relationships: Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor
Comments: 16
Kudos: 610





	i know you're hurting, baby (whenever you look at me with those sad eyes)

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from the song "Sad Eyes" by James Arthur.
> 
> Also, I would love some feedback if you feel like sharing your thoughts with me. :)

“I don’t think she will come.”

Her voice is soft and gentle, almost muffled by the loud noises echoing around the flat. The place is not packed, just a few of their friends hanging around the living room, laughing and talking, nursing some alcoholic drinks. They seem happy, unbothered by anything else, their mood far from what Kara is feeling herself.

“Yeah, I know,” she says in a low voice, pushing her quiet phone into her pocket before meeting her sister’s kind brown eyes, seeing nothing but understanding reflected on them. “I don’t think I will be able to stay tonight.”

Alex nods, reaches over to put a comforting hand on her arm. “I’ll tell them you had to leave.”

Kara flashes her a small grateful smile before getting her coat and making her way outside. She brings her phone out of her pocket once again, feeling a spark of disappointment at noticing that there is no new notification waiting to be read.

Unlocking the screen anyway, letting out a shaky sigh, she types out a short text, writing and rewriting, reading and rereading before hitting send.

**[Kara 8:05 p.m.] Hey, I missed you at game night. Is everything okay? Can I come over for a bit?**

It takes quite a while for the reply to come, though Kara knows something is wrong as soon as it does.

**[Lena 8:11 p.m.] Hi. Sorry I couldn’t come. I have a few things to be done by tonight. Maybe another time?**

Frowning at her screen, reading the sentences once again, she shakes her head a bit in disbelief. Never, during four years of friendship, has Lena sent her a text like this. So evasive and so weird. Not even during those first few months when they didn’t quite know each other or didn’t hang out that much. Besides, Lena has been avoiding her all day, still having polite conversations but never staying in the same room with her alone.

Something has happened with her best friend, perhaps something serious that is leaving Kara worried sick for their friendship. She doesn’t want to lose Lena, doesn’t want to go through what happened between them when Supergirl’s secret was revealed. It’s not like Lena got mad and stopped talking to her altogether, but it still shook them a little bit.

**[Kara 8:13 p.m.] It won’t take long, I promise.**

She can basically hear Lena letting out a defeated sigh.

**[Lena 8:14 p.m.] All right.**

Turning around, Kara quickly makes her way to the top of the building, flying up the stairs, not even once stopping to bother at changing to her suit. She pushes herself up in the air and crosses the city at record speed.

-

Lena is waiting for her at the balcony when she lands with a delicate thud, looking so soft and so comfortable in a large-sized grey sweater. She is leaning against the doorframe, arms crossed over her chest, a thoughtful expression on her face. “Hi,” she greets in a low voice, green eyes looking a bit tired as meeting blue ones. “Game night got canceled?”

“No, not exactly,” Kara answers, pushing her hands inside her pockets, unable to help herself from watching her friend carefully. It seems like she has just gotten home from work, freshly out of a shower, her dark long hair still a bit wet. “But it’s bad luck to have an odd number for game night.”

Opening a small smile, Lena tightens her arms around her chest, seeming a bit cold in the open air. Her slight discomfort makes the blonde watch her more carefully, noticing the grey sweater going at her midthighs, her bare legs shining in the moonlight. It’s a tiny bit distracting, especially because Kara isn’t sure if she is wearing anything underneath.

But it’s not her clothes that make Kara’s heart twist in her chest. It’s the fact that her guard is up like never before. Like Lena is trying to hide something from her.

“Were you going to bed?”

“Kind of,” Lena answers, following Kara’s gaze down to her clothes, shifting her body weight from one leg to the other. “I, hm, was going to take some papers with me. Make sure everything is going well with a new prototype.”

Kara gives her a short nod, taking half a step closer, waiting for Lena to look up at her again. It takes a long time for those green eyes to meets hers, long enough for Kara to come to realize that Lena hasn’t yet invited her to come in. To have a seat on the couch for just five minutes.

It’s a treatment she has never received before. At least not from her best friend.

“I should let you get back to it, then,” she says, clenching her jaw in an attempt to stop herself from saying anything else. She turns around to leave, hopes deep down that everything will be okay by tomorrow, but seeing Lena frowning at her in confusion makes her hesitate for a second. “Are we… Are we okay?”

Her frown deepens, and she seems slightly taken back by her question. “Yeah, why do you ask?”

“Because you have been avoiding me all day,” Kara utters in a low voice, heart speeding up in her chest as she approaches her carefully. “First at the DEO, then you missed game night for the first time. I get that you’re busy, but… have I done something wrong to upset you?”

“No. No, of course not.”

“Then why are you avoiding me?”

Lena blinks at her, breathes out through her parted lips. For a moment, it seems like she is going to say something, her chin moving like trying to find the right words, but she changes her mind and presses her lips tightly closed.

“Lena,” Kara whispers her name with a soft plea, wanting to reach forward to hold her hands but afraid of making her friend push her further away. “You can tell me. Whatever it is, okay?”

Green eyes move down to the front of Kara’s coat, seeming slightly unfocused. She is quiet for a moment, her mind clearly wondering if it is a good thing to tell the blonde. Kara gives her time, patiently waiting for whatever she decides. “I have been avoiding you,” she confesses carefully. “It– It isn’t because of something you did. I just… I was afraid.”

“Afraid of what?”

Closing her eyes for a moment, Lena takes a deep breath before meeting her questioning gaze. “I was afraid that if I stayed close to you long enough, I would– I would end up kissing you.”

Kara blinks at her, frowning a bit in confusion, feeling like everything around her has just stopped and stood still. “Oh,” she breathes out, searching her face in an attempt to identify anything that might tell her those words don’t have the meaning she thinks it does. She is scared that hoping for it, for the possibility that Lena might feel the same for her, will end up breaking her heart into pieces.

“You should go, Kara.”

She blinks at her again, her brain still trying to process her previous sentence as Lena takes a step back inside the living room, ready to shut the door closed. A quiet _goodnight_ leaves her lips, her voice sounding almost broken, something that makes Kara spring into motion. “Lena, wait,” she pleads, staring at her green eyes with a hopeful look. “Do you still feel that way?”

Lena inclines her head a bit to the side. “What do you mean?”

“If I was to kiss you right now, would you kiss me back?”

“Kara…”

“Would you?”

A quiet sigh leaves her mouth, the corner of her lower lip caught in between her teeth. “Yes.”

It’s the answer she needs to carefully approach her friend, to reach forward and gently cup her face. Her green eyes have a devastating hopeful look, shining with unshed tears, occasionally dropping down to Kara’s lips. Her body is a little tense, seeming like she has forgotten how to breathe with the blonde invading her personal space.

“I’m going to kiss you, okay?”

“Okay,” Lena breathes out, her voice dropping with a slightly heavy accent. It makes the corners of Kara’s mouth curl up a bit, her tongue darting out to wet her lips as she leans closer and closer to meet soft and warm ones. The first few touches are slow and tentative. They are delicate, accompanied with shaky sighs, with soft sounds resembling moans. It makes one’s heart thud faster, it makes another’s skip several beats.

“Your heart is beating really fast,” Kara murmurs against her lips, letting both hands slowly drift down her arms until they come to rest on her waist, bringing her closer to feel her body melting against hers. “It’s a little distracting, you know.”

“I’m sorry,” Lena whispers with a touch of a smile, her short nails scratching the back of her neck, making a delicious shiver run down her spine. “It’s not like I can control it when you’re around.”

“Yeah, but I’m not really complaining.”

A low laugh escapes her, her teeth teasing and sinking in Kara’s bottom lip. Taking a step back, she guides the blonde inside the living room, her delicate fingers holding the fabric of her coat, pushing it away from her shoulders until it falls to the ground. They reach the large white couch with uncoordinated steps, Kara falling back down on it, bringing Lena closer to her until she is straddling her lap.

Her green eyes are dark in the poorly lit room, her long hair falling around her face like a halo. Lena looks beautiful, breathtakingly so, and it makes Kara pause for a moment, afraid this might be just another one of her dreams.

“Is everything okay?” Lena asks in a delicate whisper, letting her hands rest on her chest, right over her raced heart. Her touch makes Kara feel grounded, makes her realize she is really here, in this living room, with Lena on top of her. “Do you want to slow down?”

“No, it’s not that,” Kara replies, lifting a hand to tuck a raven strand behind her ear. She is quiet for a while, concentrated on their shared breath, listening to the steady rhythm of her heart. “I have wanted this for a very long time.”

The corners of her mouth curl into a smile. “Me too.”

Kara leans in to capture her lips in a hard kiss, hands coming to rest on the soft, soft skin of pale thighs. Her fingers shake a little with nervousness as they travel up in a slow caress, paying close attention for any indication to stop. But Lena only encourages her, shifting on her lap to grand her more access, letting a delicate moan escape from deep her throat when Kara cups her rear. It’s a beautiful sound, distracting in a way that makes Kara almost miss the fact that Lena is not wearing anything underneath that sweater.

“You’re not…” she trails off when her fingers dance up further on her bare back. “Lena…”

“You texted me when I was having a bath,” the woman utters as an explanation, her warm fingers exploring Kara’s soft abs. “I barely had time to put on this sweater before sending you a reply.”

“You can’t do this to me.”

“You can take it off if you want.”

Kara swallows hard, pulls away a bit to meet her eyes. “You sure?”

“I am if you are.”

Their gazes keep on locked while the blonde drifts the fabric up her body, revealing more and more pale skin, the piece of clothing messing her hair a little before being dropped somewhere on the floor. A shaky sigh leaves Kara’s parted lips, heart racing inside her chest as she lets her eyes travel down the curvy body in front of her, mapping every freckle, until it reaches the space in between her legs. She feels a blush spreading up her neck, her fingers twitching on pale thighs.

“Are you okay?”

She blinks up at her to find Lena studying her carefully. “Yes,” she breathes out, leaning in closer to lay open-mouthed kisses on her neck, sucking down the path between her breasts. She brings a nipple to her teeth, hearing a sharp intake of breath, a quiet moan filling the air as Lena moves her hips on her lap. It doesn’t take long for her movements to start getting a bit insisting, a touch desperate, seeking for any friction against the cold air.

“Kara…”

Listening to her best friend moan her name in such a low voice – half ordering, half begging – makes her burn hot deep inside. A soft sound leaves her throat in sort of a reply, fingers reaching forward to gently touch smooth skin. Lena is dripping wet, sensitive, her whole body reacting to the tiniest strokes against her swollen clit. “You good?” Kara checks, looking up to find the woman with her eyes shut, frowning in concentration, holding her breath. “Lena?”

“I’m okay,” she whispers, chest beginning to move up and down quickly. “I just… I don’t think it will take me long.”

“That’s okay,” she reassures softly, pecking her lips before resting their foreheads together. “I’ve got you, all right?”

Lena gives her a short nod, nails digging deep on her shoulders. She seems a bit scared, holding herself back as if afraid of letting go so soon. It breaks Kara’s heart to see her like this, so insecure about her reactions like they will make her turn around and hurry far away from her.

“Hey, look at me,” she asks in a delicate voice, nuzzling on her cheek in an attempt to help her relax, waiting until those green eyes flutter open to her. “No matter how fast you come around my fingers, I’ll still want to taste you tonight, okay?”

The rhythm of her heart skips a few beats, her hips moving forward involuntarily as she leans in to press their mouths together. She lets out a shaky sigh, her lips falling open in a quiet moan as fingers resume circling her clit. The blonde starts slow, exploring her silk folds a bit, applying different amounts of pressure, moving down to tease her entrance and gather more wetness. She can feel her own spreading in between her legs, pulsing with her heartbeat, begging for any kind of attention, for any kind of friction.

She brings herself back to concentrate on her fingers when Lena starts shaking against her, nails digging deeper on her shoulders with the building speed. A shaky moan of her name makes her bring her friend closer, their shared breaths getting heavier and heavier until it suspends for the moment when warm wetness starts dropping down her wrist.

It feels like the entire world stops for them. Nothing but their shared moment, their intimate moment, of any real importance to their brains.

Kara holds her tight, close to her warmth as Lena melts on her, still shaking, still moving her hips to meet her lazy strokes. She gives her time to come back to her, to recover her breath, to meet her eyes again. “Are you okay?”

A shy smile curls up the corners of her mouth, her nails fondly scratching the back of her neck. “Yes.”

“Do you want to stop for tonight?”

“Do you?”

“I still want to taste you,” she confesses, bringing her wet fingers to her lips to suck them clean. She catches the way Lena holds her breath with her quiet moan, her pupils dilatating, her heart speeding up in her chest. “You taste so good, Lena.”

A beat of silence.

“I think you should take me to bed,” she utters in a whisper, leaving out a surprised whimper when Kara instantly wraps her arms around her waist to stumble toward the bedroom.

-

Gently lowering her body down on the mattress, Kara waits for Lena to shift into a comfortable position before settling herself between pale thighs. She hovers over bare skin, just an inch out of reach from slick wetness, lifting a hand to carefully pull a raven strand away from Lena’s face. Green eyes lock into hers with a soft question, warm hands moving up and down her bare back once her bra and t-shirt are long forgotten somewhere in the hallway.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Because you look beautiful,” she replies in the same low voice, loving the way a shy smile appears on swollen lips. “And I also have a question to make.”

Lena hums lowly, interested. “Okay.”

Kara shifts on top of her carefully, letting a hand come to rest over her ribs to caress her smooth skin. She can feel the steady rhythm of her heart against her fingertips, a familiar beat she would previously only be able to hear. “When did you realize you had feelings for me?”

Her expression softens with the question, her eyes open and vulnerable to the conversation they are about to have. “When you invited me to game night the first time.”

Frowning a little, Kara tries to suppress the shiver running down her body with the movement of Lena’s fingers stroking her hair. “That was four years ago.”

“I know.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

A shadow of a sad smile appears on her lips. “Why didn’t _you_ tell me?

Kara blinks down at her, resumes caressing her skin when noticing her unmoved fingers. “I was afraid of losing you.”

“I feared the same,” she confesses, her chest expanding with a deep breath. She stares into blue eyes for a long moment, a delicate frown in between her brows as the gears in her mind clearly start working, probably analyzing their moments together with a new perspective, trying to find the answer to a question that is still forming in her head. “When did you realize it?”

“It took me a little bit longer,” she says. “I knew I felt something for you, but it only came to me when you stayed over the first time. I remember how I felt when I woke up with you.”

“How did you feel?”

“Like I was the luckiest woman in the world,” she utters. “I could have gone anywhere when my pod got knocked out of course. I could have landed here when you were already gone. If I had, if I had lost my chance of meeting you, I don’t think I would know what it feels like to fall in love.”

A shaky breath leaves her parted lips, a single tear rolls down her temple and disappears among her messy strands.

“I was in love with you when I woke up that day,” Kara whispers, leaning a bit closer. “And I have been falling in love with you ever since.”

Lena brings her in for a slow kiss, sucking on her bottom lip harder and harder, body moving at the same pace under the blonde. It gets heated pretty quickly between them, the temperature only beginning to rise as Kara moves to kiss down her neck, laying open-mouthed kisses on every inch of pale skin, leaving behind love marks that don’t take long to appear.

She licks between silk folds with no warning, diving in on the flavor that explodes on her tongue, focusing all of her attention on stimulating her swollen clit as moans of pleasure fill the bedroom. With slow kisses, she moves down further to gently tease her entrance, dipping the tip of her tongue inside, unable to hold back a smile at the way curvy hips fly up in search of more contact. It gives her the encouragement she needs to pull away a bit, resting a comforting hand on her hipbone as shifting to a better position in order to replace her tongue with two long fingers.

A shaky _fuck_ leaves Lena’s lips in a delicate whimper, the sound getting higher and even more breathless as Kara brings her mouth back to warm skin. She starts thrusting at a slow pace, letting Lena adjust to the intrusion until she requests for _more_ , _faster_ almost with a shy voice. She pulls her fingers almost all the way out before pushing back in with a third one, instantly feeling tight walls expanding to welcome her.

Lena moans her name with a touch of pleading, her broken whisper making blue eyes travel up her pale body, finding her arching toward the ceiling, her dark hair splayed over white pillows, her mouth open in clear pleasure. She looks beautiful, in a way Kara never thought she would be able to see.

She is so lost on the way Lena looks that she barely registers smooth thighs starting to quiver on either side of her head, walls pulsing harder around her curling fingers until they start clenching, spilling an incredible amount of warm liquid on her chin. She stays settled in between her legs, keeps on moving, encouraging her orgasm to last longer before moving back up to nuzzle on the curve of her neck.

“I think it will take me some time to get used to this.”

“The feeling is mutual,” Lena agrees in a breathless whisper, wrapping both arms around her neck. “I might have an idea to help us a little with it.”

Kara shifts on top of her, pulls away to meet her soft gaze. “You have?”

“How do you feel about using toys?”

Her heart does a funny thing inside her chest. “I would be interested,” she replies in a careful whisper, a furious blush crawling up her neck. “What do you have in mind?”

“Well, I have this toy in my closet I never used before,” Lena begins with a slightly anxious voice, green eyes closely watching the emotions crossing her face. “I don’t remember why I bought it in the first place since I didn’t have a partner, but it is supposed to make both of us feel good at the same time. It’s basically a double-ended strap-on, where you can put one inside your partner and the other against your clit. It, hm, it presses on you in time with your thrusts, and I–”

She bites on her bottom lip, her breath leaving her lungs in a shaky puff of air.

“You what?”

“I– I don’t know,” she closes her eyes for a quick moment, swallowing hard as if trying to push an image away from her mind. “What do you think?”

Kara doesn’t miss a beat. “Where in your closet?”

“Top shelf, there is a box–”

She is gone in a ghost of wind, back on the bed with a small box in hands before Lena can register what she just did, though an eager smile appears on her lips.

“Can you explain it to me again?”

“Yeah,” Lena says, sitting up on the bed to sort the toy out of its box, patiently explaining to the blonde once again how both ends work, showing her how to put the strap-on in a harness. She tells her to wash it before they settle back on the covers, buzzing in anticipation for what is about to come. “I’ve thought about this a couple of times.”

Blue eyes look up from the purple toy slick with a well-coated amount of lube, finding an almost guilty expression on the woman’s face. She gently pushes her legs open to lower her weight on top of her, being careful not to brush the silicone against her just yet. “Have you?”

“Yeah.”

Humming lowly, she reaches for the base to hold it in order to tease the tip against her entrance, letting it slide against her clit in a delicate touch. She watches green eyes fluttering a bit closed and leans in to give her a kiss. “Guide me if you need, okay?”

Lena gives her a short nod, fingers moving in her hair in a lazy stroke, stopping when Kara starts to slowly push in. They hold their breaths at the same time, never looking away from each other, until it is all the way in. Kara gives a few thrusts in a test, her mouth falling open at the pressure sliding against her clit.

“Good?” Lena checks, scratching her nails on the back of her neck.

“Yeah,” she replies in a shaky whisper, pulling it almost out and pushing it in back again. “Can I move faster?”

“Please.”

Her hips start building speed, almost blind to her own pleasure, encouraged by the moans filling the air between them. She feels her first orgasm just an inch away from her, which makes her get lost in the way warm hands run up and down her heated skin, on the way soft lips suck hard on hers, on the way delicate bites are left on her bottom one.

As soon as feeling her body tensing in anticipation, she moves her hands away from Lena’s waist, curling them around the bedsheets until she reaches the edge, her empty walls clenching around nothing. She breathes heavily in the space keeping their mouths apart, touching their foreheads together, taking her time before blinking her eyes open to meet warm green ones already waiting for her.

There is an emotion open and vulnerable on them, on the fond way they keep studying her face. She recognizes what it is, and it doesn’t take long for Lena to utter those three words.

“I love you.”

A shaky breath escapes her lungs. “I love you too.”

She captures swollen lips in a hard kiss, starting to thrust back in and out with renovated speed. Her movements are harder and faster, the tip of her ears blushing with the wet sounds leaving their joined bodies. She can feel Lena tensing beneath her, moans getting breathless.

“Wait for me,” she whispers in her mouth, shifting in place to hide her face on the curve of her neck, to breathe her sweet scent in, to lay kisses on heated skin.

It doesn’t take them long to reach the edge together, Lena coming hard around the toy a second before Kara does. “I might actually die if we go again,” she jokes with a lazy smile, sharing drunk kisses with the blonde.

Her sentence makes Kara extra careful when easing the toy out of her tight entrance, the silicone shining with slick wetness. She puts it aside on the foot of the bed before coming to cuddle her best friend, hearing the happy sigh that fills the air when their bodies touch again. They stay like that for a while, fingers lazily stroking each other as sleep starts to settle on them.

“How does a bath sound right now?”

Lena hums lowly in reply. “It sounds wonderful.”

Kara makes her way to the bathroom while Lena changes the bedsheets, their movements a bit slower than usual, though it doesn’t take them too long to get in the tube together, warm water welcoming them, lit candles around the room making them feel cozy. They wash themselves up with no rush before Lena settles back against her front in a cozy cuddle, getting sleepier by the second, muscles relaxing around her arms.

A few minutes later, they are back on the bed, quickly falling asleep on each other’s warmth.

-

It’s still dark outside when Lena decides to go after Kara. A few minutes ago, she woke up to an empty bed, already a bit cold, remembering the soft kiss the blonde pressed on her forehead before leaving. She murmured a _be right back_ when Lena stirred, sleep easily reclaiming her with the comforting words, but it has already been a while and she hasn’t come back.

Her footsteps are muffled against the hardwood floor, the moonlight guiding her to the living room, back to where it started. A spike of worry instantly grows inside her chest, making her feel anxious upon finding the blonde alone in the balcony, settled on a chair, seeming entirely lost in thoughts.

Before she can think the worst of the situation, already imagining the way Kara will want to break things off between them, the blonde turns around as if sensing her, opening the most beautiful smile as beckoning her to come closer.

“Hey, I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

“That’s okay,” Lena replies, the tightening in her chest easing when the blonde gently brings her in to get settled on her lap, strong arms wrapping around her waist to protect her from the cold breeze. “What are you doing out here?”

“I needed a moment to think.”

Lena stares into her bright blue eyes, searching for any clue that might explain what is happening with her friend. “Do you want me to leave you alone?”

“No,” Kara answers with a slight frown, telltale crinkle appearing in between her brows, quickly disappearing when Lena strokes it fondly with her thumb. “Of course not.”

“Okay,” she utters in a whisper, sliding her fingers down to the back of her neck, leaving a trail of goosebumps on her skin as she starts to stroke the baby hairs there. “I’m here if you want to talk.”

Kara gives her a short nod, nuzzles on the curve of her neck while taking a deep breath. Lena can feel her melting on her, sinking on the feeling of being able to hold her so close. “I was thinking about something you said earlier,” she begins after a moment. “About why you were avoiding me all day. I– I’m trying to understand what I did to make you want to kiss me so badly.”

Her voice is soft in the cold night air, her sentence in any way sounding with a touch of teasing. It comes out with genuine curiosity, her blue eyes searching green ones in an attempt to find an answer written on them.

“Well, do you remember when I was kidnapped last month?”

Her face hardens a bit with the memory. “Yeah.”

Lena shifts on her lap carefully, scratches her nails on her scalp in what she hopes is a comforting touch. “I knew Edge was behind it somehow,” she explains in a whisper. “I knew the police had him in custody, but he found a way to contact one of his goons to come after me. What I didn’t know, though, is that he made a bargain with the DEO. With you.”

Kara blinks at her, lets a shaky breath escape her parted lips.

“I didn’t understand why I was released until Edge was caught again last night,” she continues, watching as realization slowly dawns on Kara, already knowing where this conversation is going to take them. “I asked Alex how he managed to get away in the first place, and she explained to me what you did. I still don’t get why all of you chose to hide it from me.”

“I thought you would be mad.”

“I was,” she replies with a broken whisper. “You could have had him there, Kara. You had all the proof you needed to keep him arrested, but you chose to save me.”

“Of course I did.”

Lena bites the corner of her bottom lip. “You shouldn’t have. If he was locked up, that bomb he planted four days ago wouldn’t have exploded. All those people wouldn’t have gotten hurt.”

“I know,” Kara says with a defeated sigh. “But there wasn’t any other choice I could have made.”

“Kara…”

“I can’t live with the idea that I might get you hurt,” she utters in admission, her eyes shining with unshed tears, jaw clenched with her emotions. “I will never forgive myself if I make a choice that ends up hurting you or– or killing you. You can’t ask me to choose differently, because I will always choose you, Lena. No matter what.”

Lena rests their foreheads together, nuzzles fondly on her cheek. “That’s why.”

“What do you mean?”

“How can I not want to kiss you when you’re always making stupid decisions to keep me safe?”

A shadow of a smile curls the corners of her lips. “They are not stupid.”

“They might be sometimes, but I love you anyway.”

Kara brings her in for a gentle kiss. “I love you too,” she utters the sentiment in a whisper, kissing her again and again. They stay curled up against each other for quite a while, watching the first few colors of a beautiful dawn starting to creep in the horizon. They talk in soft voices, giggle about unimportant stuff, all the while with happy expressions that never leave their faces.


End file.
